New York Yankees Notes: Pettitte, Miranda, Russo, Posada, Gardner

The Yankees have dropped two in a row in walk-off style against the Texas Rangers and things won’t get any easier today as they face Cliff Lee. Making things worse, the Tampa Bay Rays are within striking distance, just a half-game back, of first place. So there is a lot on the line this afternoon.

Here are some notes:

In Lee’s last start against the Yankees he pitched 6.1 innings and gave up 4 earned runs.

Andy Pettitte will throw another rehab start on Tuesday and if everything goes well he will rejoin the rotation next Sunday, a week from today, in Baltimore.

Triple-A Scranton was ousted from the playoffs so the Yankees have called up first baseman Juan Miranda and infielder/outfielder Kevin Russo from the minors. It’s possible more players could be called up later on.

Jorge Posada is expected to catch today, the first time he’ll be doing that since he had a concussion scare after getting hit with a foul tip last week.

Brett Gardner has an injured right wrist. There was no specific play he injured it during, it’s just one of those things. He’s day-to-day, but could be seeing some time off in the upcoming days. He expects to get an MRI sometime this week.

Even if the Yankees lose today and the Rays win, they two teams go head-to-head starting tomorrow. So the Yankees will ultimately control their own destiny. First things first though, they have to win tonight to avoid a sweep at the hands of another potential playoff opponent.